sunyatatha

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  • 8/12/2019 Sunyatatha

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    Sunyatatha:The void is a plenum.

    From Wikipedia:A paradox is a statement or group of statements that leads to a contradiction or a situation whichdefies intuition; or, it can be an apparent contradiction that actually expresses a non-dual truth.

    From Nagarjuna and The Limits of Thought Philosophy East & West, Vol. 53, No.1, 2003

    To say this is conventional and this is ultimate is dualistic. To realize that there is no difference between the conventional and the ultimate is to enter the Dharma-door of nonduality, or, as theHeart Sutra puts it more famously, Form is empty; emptiness is form; form is not different fromemptiness; emptiness is not different from form.

    Chapter 48, Hua Hu ChingThe Secret Teachings of Lao Tzu

    Brian Walker, trans.

    Do you wish to free yourself of mental and emotional knots and become one with the Tao?If so, there are two paths available to you. The first is the path of acceptance. Affirm everyoneand everything. Freely extend your goodwill and virtue in every direction, regardless ofcircumstances. Embrace all things as part of the Harmonious Oneness, and then you will begin to

    perceive it. The second path is that of denial. Recognize that everything you see and think is afalsehood, an illusion, a veil over the truth. Peel all the veils away, and you will arrive at theOneness. Though these paths are entirely different, they will deliver you to the same place:spontaneous awareness of the Great Oneness. Once you arrive there, remember: it isn't necessaryto struggle to maintain unity with it. All you have to do is participate in it.

    All things are devoid of independent existence. (Sunyata)All things manifest from the same Source. (Tathata)All things can be said to neither not exist nor to exist.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propositionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contradictionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intuition_(knowledge)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contradictionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-dualhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-dualhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contradictionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intuition_(knowledge)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contradictionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proposition
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    Sunyatatha is my attempt at comprehending the dualistic appearance of Reality. As indicated

    by the Sunya portion, Reality is Empty, but as indicated by the Tatha portion, Reality is Full.While this may seem to be contradictory, it is only so linguistically as the actual nature of Realityis not a choice between Sunyata and Tathata as the One True Story. There is truth in Sunyata andthere is truth in Tathata but Truth can be found in neither story alone. All things are Empty - thatdoes not mean they are False. All things are Full - that does not mean they are True. We canalmost wrap our minds around Emptiness and Fullness but Reality is not subject to eithergnowledge or knowledge alone.

    They are not independent of each other and cannot exist apart from the other.Yin/Emptiness /This is one aspect of Reality, Yang/Suchness /That is another aspect ofReality. Yin/Emptiness /This can be known, is true, but is not Real. Yang/Suchness /That can

    be known, is true, but is not Real. Tao is True and Real, but cannot be known in the same sensethat we know One plus one equals two. There is no inherent Tathata, there is no inherent

    Sunyata. By inherent, I mean an independently existing reality. With the negation of inherency,contradiction is replaced with paradox. When one thinks contradiction, one is thinkingdualistically, as in there are two distinct realities, one of which cannot be true. When one thinks

    paradox, one is thinking nondualistically, as in there is a unity that can be explained two ways,neither of which is true, in the absolute sense of the term.

    We make a major mistake in imaging dualism as contradiction; I submit the dualism should be imaged as paradox. The solution to the question of dualism is realizing the dualism is a logical paradox rather than an existential state of affairs. Consider the dualism of Self and Other, forexample. If there was no you, how could it be said that I exist? On the same token, if therewas no I, how could it be said that you exi st?